To Know the Unknown
by Shiny Lilligant
Summary: Six friends enter the annual winter Pokemon tournament at Violet High School. The winner of this tournament faces the representative of their rival school for the regional Pokemon champion title. Pokemon. It's serious business.
1. The Winter Tournament Approaches

**Chapter 1 – The Winter Tournament Approaches**

It was two days before the annual winter Pokemon tournament at Violet High School, which would mark the end of the first semester, but things were already wrapping up in certain classes.

"Goddammt!" Isaac fell to his knees and covered his face in shame.

Toby walked over to Isaac and gave him a light kick in the ass. "Hey, how much longer are you going to act like that?" Isaac looked up at her and watched as she let her long black hair down from the ponytail she always ties before doing any physical activity. Feeling slightly embarrassed and infatuated at the same time, he blushed.

"I won't go easy on you next time," Isaac got up, ignored Toby's deadpan look and set the air hockey mallet back on the table.

"You're drenched in sweat, man." Leon handed him a piece of tissue from a nearby box. "If that's going easy, I wonder how you'll look like when you actually try."

"Thanks. I'm going to wash up and sign up for the tournament while I'm at it. Toby, got a pen?"

"Why are you always asking _me_ for a pen?" she asked in an obviously agitated manner while rustling through her pockets. "Here. Geez. And you're such a procrastinator!"

"Thanks," Isaac said, catching it. "I don't ask Leon because he still only uses wooden pencils and they're dull 99.99% of the time."

"You don't have a large enough sample size to make such a precise calculation, my dear Isaac," Leon pointed out like a smart-ass.

"Eh. Be back in a few." Isaac dashed out of the room and down the hall, where he was stopped by a slightly suspicious figure with a hood on.

"No running in the halls, mister." It was a female voice, and to Isaac, a dead giveaway.

"Take off the hood and step aside, Kaitlyn."

"Hall monitor duty is so tedious," she groaned and let the hood of her blue sweater off.

"Want me to save you from the tedium? I'm going to the student council office to sign up and I could use an escort."

"E-e-escort?" Kaitlyn hastily put her hood back on and took as many steps back as she could before her back touched the wall. "If that's really what you want, senpai..."

"Cut it out, stupid…" Isaac looked behind him to make sure no one was watching. "So, will you walk with me or what?"

She nodded, and the two went through the yellow doors and down the staircase. "This is so cute," she whispered. "It's like we're bathroom buddies, except I'm not a guy and we're not going to the washroom."

"Oh, I was going to the washroom too. Wanna come with?" Isaac looked back and gave her a goofy grin.

"You wish."

The sign-up office was on the first floor next to the principal's office, and inside was an all too familiar face – the student council president _and_ the third year representative, Roy.

"Roy's our boy!" Isaac shouted with complete disregard for the classes still going on in the nearby rooms.

"I will pay you 1 million Pokedollars to stop saying that," Roy replied while closing his laptop. "Here." He slid the sign-up sheet across the table and took a glance at Kaitlyn. "Melody is still sick, if either of you are wondering. I'm guessing it's pretty serious. She texted me this morning telling me not to visit."

"What a tsundere," Isaac commented while sliding the sign-up sheet back to Roy.

"Alright, so here's the deal: the tournament begins this Wednesday at you-know-where. We're using the single elimination format as usual, and winner of Violet High will face the winner of our rival school, Indigo High, who's also having their tournament this week. The match-ups will be released tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. sharp on our official school website. I recommend reviewing the rules and practicing or resting in the meantime. Best of luck to the both of you."

* * *

The alarm on Isaac's phone went off, and he grumpily hit the snooze button. It was the day before the winter Pokemon tournament. More importantly, it was the day that the match-ups would be viewable on their school website. He rolled out of bed, patted his bed hair down, and opened his desktop computer. The sun hadn't even risen yet, and the brightness of the computer made him squint and look away.

Barely looking at the keyboard, he let muscle memory work its magic and punched in the unnecessarily long password to his computer account. Anti-virus does its automatic updates, and the instant messenger application opens and signs him in. Unsurprisingly, Toby, Leon, Kaitlyn, Roy, and Melody were already online in his friends list, and he was immediately invited to the conversation:

_**Isaac**__ has entered the conversation._

**~Toby~:** introducing the violet slacker

**Leon L.: **8 minutes and 38 seconds left

**Isaac: **calm yourself Leon

**Isaac: **I want another shot at Toby

**~Toby~:** are you still sore about yesterday?

**Leon L.: **he was probably crying at the washroom

**Leon L.: **I mean, he took half an hour to get back

**Roy's our boy: **I can confirm that his eyes were teary when he came to see me.

**Isaac:** piss off, Roy

**Roy's our boy: **I saw salt crystals on his cheeks too.

**Roy's our boy: **Oh and he was with Kaitlyn.

**~Toby~: **and no one was surprised

**Kate:** *blushes*

**Isaac: **you're all awful

**Leon L.: **lmao

**Leon L.: **anyway sleep clause is in effect, meaning no easy wins for Toby

**~Toby~: **because my Lilligant is a one trick pony =/

**Isaac:** iirc every standard Smogon rule is in effect

**Roy's our boy: **That's right.

**Isaac: **why 3v3?

**Melody:** b/c we were short on time this year. tournament is 3 days, instead of the usual 6

**Isaac: **Melody, you feeling better today?

**Melody:** yeah thanks for asking

**Kate:** Seeing Roy instantly cured her. Or so I heard.

**Melody:** some idiots don't know how to follow simple instructions

**Leon L.: **brb washroom

**Isaac: **same

**Roy's our boy: **same

**Melody: **since everyone else is going…

**Kate: **Sup, Tobyrama?

**~Toby~: **gurl, stop calling me that

**~Toby~: **Tobirama does rock though

**~Toby~: **he makes the yellow flash seem like a sissy

**Kate: **Haha.

**Isaac: **who's Tobirama?

**Isaac: **?

**Isaac: **fine I see how it is

**~Toby~: **the site updated

**Leon L.: **it's not loading for me

**Isaac: **expected/10

**Roy's our boy: **It's technically 7 am, so

_**Roy's our boy **__wants to share a file with you: 2013_PT_Matchups (7.12 MB)_

**Roy's our boy: **Enjoy.

_2__2013_PT_Matchups_ successfully saved to MSN Crap.

**Leon L.: **WHYYYYYYYY?

**~Toby~: **Leon x Lucy LOL

**Kate:** It looks random enough.

**Melody: **we drew names out of a hat

**Isaac: **lol

**Melody: **no really, we actually drew names out of a hat

**Isaac: **I spy a chance at having a rematch with Toby

**Isaac: **don't you lose before then

**~Toby~: **great, I get to mop the floor with the mean girl

**~Toby~: **see you all at school

_**~Toby~ **__has left the conversation._

**Leon L.: **first round: Roy vs Alison (the very first match), Kate vs Archie, Isaac vs Nicholas, Toby vs Rachael, Melody vs Felix, Leon vs Lucy

**Leon L.: **discuss

**Roy's our boy: **Who's Alison?

**Kate: **Why are you the stuco president again?

**Isaac: **dude she's that girl in our math class

**Isaac: **third row, beside Nick

**Roy's our boy: **Oh. You sure know your chicks, Isaac.

**Isaac: **damn straight

**Leon L.: **guys, link me to a guide on how to not be awkward

**Melody: **"just google it" - Leon

**Isaac: **kay time for school

Isaac closed the messenger and quickly changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a black wool sweater. Downstairs, his mother was at the dining table drinking orange juice and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning Isaac. Your lunch is on the way out as usual."

"Thanks, mom."

"Your sister texted me an hour ago. She's coming home this Friday for the winter break."

"So it's been another year of living in her shadow already? Damn." Isaac's tone was ice cold now. "And really, a text? Guess she was too busy brushing her royal teeth to call."

"You know dear, you have a lot of qualities that your sister doesn't."

"Whatever. See you tonight."

His mother let out a quiet sigh.

* * *

**Author's Note:** At some point when I started writing fanfics, I stopped writing for fun. The obligation to update regularly honestly got to me, and I ended up giving up on a piece of work because I stopped having fun. Now that I'm older and wiser, I'm back to give redo it. This time, it will be done purely for fun. If you're a new reader, I promise that you will not be confused.

Also, I really enjoy writing messenger conversations so definitely expect more of those.

[Next chapter: The Winter Tournament Begins]


	2. Burning Resolve

**Chapter 2 – Burning Resolve  
**

Roy entered the bright, fluorescent-lit stadium, wearing his favorite black windbreaker. The entire school was seated, quiet, and watching him and Alison with eager eyes. He scanned the crowd for a couple of seconds before confidently focusing his attention on his opponent.

Alison was on the other side of the oval battleground, and she was visibly nervous about going first. Of course, she had every reason to be. The few people who have seen Roy battle before talked the junior up like the school's most promising Pokemon trainer. Alison was already a senior, and she wasn't particularly talented, but she figured it was worth seizing one last opportunity for fun before graduation.

Roy made the first move and tossed a spinning Pokeball into the air, releasing a honey badger Pokemon with flames on its back – Typhlosion. Hoping to take Roy's fire starter out early, Alison released her Starmie.

"Hydo Pump!"

"Fire Blast!"

The two called their attacks simultaneously. A large stream of water fired from one of Starmie's points, and an even larger stream of fire shot out of Typhlosion's mouth. Defying Alison's expectations, the flames evaporated all the water in its path and roasted Starmie in the process. An instant knock-out. Typhlosion celebrated his first defeat by pounding his fist together and roaring.

"Already? You can't be serious…" Alison returned Starmie, detached the white flag that was on her belt, and threw it in. "Roy, my remaining two Pokemon are grass types. There's no point in continuing the match just so you can faint them too."

"So basically, you're running away." Roy crossed his arms and gave her a dissatisfied frown.

"Sorry."

* * *

At the hall where students of upcoming battles were waiting to be called in, Roy found Kaitlyn leaning next to a large rectangular column.

"It hasn't even been five minutes yet. You don't know how to hold back, do you?" Roy chuckled at Kaitlyn's question. "What?"

"She had no flair. And holding back in a competition is an insult."

"She'd only be insulted if she cared about winning. What if she just wanted to have a good time?"

"Then they shouldn't have entered this tournament to begin with. There are so many other ways of having a good time. It would have been a lot easier for the student council if the only competitors were ones who are serious about getting the chance to kick Indigo High's ass."

Knowing she could no longer reason with the Adamant Roy, Kaitlyn sighed. "Yeah... speaking of Indigo High, they're here."

"I know. I saw them in the crowd." Roy zipped his thin windbreaker up and grabbed the silver winter jacket that Kaitlyn had been holding onto for him the entire time. "Sorry I'll be missing your first match. Tell the others I said sorry too."

"Don't worry about it. Just focus on your job. I'll be here to make sure they don't sabotage anything."

Roy gave her a firm pat on the shoulder before leaving.

Kaitlyn moved her attention back to the twin doors and saw Alison exiting the stadium. Alison had taken her glasses off and was wiping her tears.


End file.
